Give Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson credit: he didn’t go into wallflower mode during this off-season. Howson pulled out some flashy moves, but the smart money is on the Blue Jackets remaining right where they’ve been for years: out of the playoffs.

They’re tied for the league lead in games played with four, yet they’ve managed one measly point. That puts them ahead of the Calgary Flames (two games played) and Winnipeg Jets (one GP) and ties them with the Phoenix Coyotes (two GP).

Yet when you look at squandered opportunities, it’s that much clearer that Columbus is the slowest starting team in the NHL. While the Coyotes lost both of their games on the road, three of the Blue Jackets’ four games were at home. Those weren’t exactly automatic losses, either; they played two teams that missed the playoffs last season and a groggy Canucks club. (Nashville, on the other hand, is not to be trifled with.)

If you ignore his huge paychecks, it’s easy to feel bad for Rick Nash, whose five points have been squandered.

Maybe James Wisniewski will heal some of their wounds when he comes back from a suspension, but it’s still disturbing that the Blue Jackets’ power play has been such a dud. They’ve gone 0-for-20 so far this season while their penalty kill allowed four goals on 15 chances.

The bright side

Their only solace is that they’re not getting blown out; three of their four losses came by one goal and there was a shootout loss in the mix. If Columbus can get their special teams’ act together, they might actually get somewhere.

Columbus has 78 games left – and potentially 74 with Wisniewski – so there’s obviously no reason to panic. Don’t be surprised if Howson and coach Scott Arniel start to feel a little nervous if this bad first week turns into a lousy first month, though.

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Their shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche is a solid example of their good news/bad news scenario. (It’s also a stern reminder that no defense should give Matt Duchene a breakaway.)

New York Islanders forward Josh Ho-Sang provided an interesting take to Newsday’s Arthur Staple, and also reminded observes that, as an international sport, the NHL features some players who might not feel as invested in (or at least as informed about) these debates.

“I think what the NFL players are doing is amazing. It’s good that they’re all sticking together,” Ho-Sang said on Monday. “I mean, I’m Canadian, so I don’t have too much input on the matter itself. It will affect me living in the States, but the biggest thing is it’s unfortunate that the message may have gotten lost a little. Now it’s becoming a battle between the NFL and the president and originally [the protests] started because of police brutality and the mistreatment of different races.”

“Protecting the First Amendment is a huge thing,” Okposo said. “I’m a proud American, and I’m proud to be from the United States. Myself personally, I wouldn’t kneel for an anthem, but I respect those that do.”

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This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the current political climate affect NHL players or people they know.

Players in plenty of sports are navigating tough questions this week. It’s important to remember that athletes can find themselves in tough spots when addressing topics that can be polarizing and/or complex.

Can't imagine being 20 years old, talking to a pack of reporters about controversial protests, knowing that any misstep releases the hounds.

With the regular season about to kick into gear on Oct. 4, it’s certain that there will be more eyes on anthems than ever before. The insights in this post should be useful, whether NHL players kneel, sit, speak, or decide to stick to hockey.

The key: after only being able to study brains of deceased athletes, there’s a chance that living athletes with CTE might eventually be identified.

On face value, that’s great news for player health. Hockey, like other contact sports such as football, is no stranger to careers and lives being derailed by brain injuries.

Of course, the NHL and NHLPA would need to cooperate to make the most of potential progress. If you’ve watched hockey long enough, particularly postseason hockey, you know that certain protocols can stand as great concepts met with hesitant execution.

Westhead expounds on such thoughts, and some of his findings aren’t very pretty.

Players might be hesitant to take such tests if it means that they’ll miss playing time (or even see their careers end). It brings back memories of Peyton Manning willfully sandbagging his baseline concussion test. For better or worse, these guys want to play.

NHL player agent: “If I asked 30 of my players if they would take a test to tell them if they have CTE, I think zero would be interested."

Of course, it’s crucial to realize that potential breakthroughs from this study could take quite some time to trickle into functional practices, even if leagues and players end up being more willing to comply than expected.

Overall, this is promising news. Hopefully such changes could help athletes during their careers and into retirement.

Sprong, 20, was the 46th pick of the 2015 NHL Draft. He’s been generating solid numbers at the OHL, so it will be interesting to see how he converts that to AHL work. Sprong played 18 regular-season games for the Penguins back in 2015-16, notching two goals.

There are some bullet points that can sell Nolan, but the 28-year-old’s production was quite limited at the NHL level. Nolan’s never scored 10 goals in a single season; in fact, he’s only reached 10 points once in his career (six goals and four assists in 64 regular-season contests back in 2013-14).

Overall, it wouldn’t be surprising if a team targeted Nolan as a depth guy, even if his ceiling is limited.

While the Penguins’ entries seem notable for sheer volume as much as anything else, Frank Corrado is another name that stands out.

Corrado was often the catalyst for debates about his playing time (or lack thereof) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it doesn’t seem like the defenseman is having much success catching on with the Penguins, either.

Zatkoff, meanwhile, fits in with quite a few other names on this list: possibly prominent in the AHL, only likely to get the occasional cup of coffee in the NHL, at this point.